Felix's Surprise
by HannahBerrie
Summary: "It wouldn't be too much of an exaggeration, if at all, to say that Felix was a popular guy. " So why is he all alone? Another one-shot full of Felix-centered fluffiness.


**A/N: **I know, I know, this isn't_ My Hero_, but I really wanted to write this one-shot, okay?

This is for all those Felix-lovers, like moi.

* * *

It wouldn't be too much of an exaggeration, if at all, to say that Felix was a popular guy. After all, the game was named after him, the Nicelanders adored him (even though in reality they were programmed to, but that was only a small technicality), and he was just so..._nice_ to everyone.

So naturally, he was hardly ever alone. No matter where he went, even if it was just to take a quick stroll around Game Central Station, he'd always wind up bumping into someone who wanted to chat, meet up at Tapper's, or throw a party for him later. Mary would want to plan a dinner, Gene would ask him when they were having their next poker night, Vanellope might ask him if he could come supervise her giant marshmallow jumping contest, Ralph asking if he could fix one of Gene's wine glasses that he'd accidentally broken...the list went on and on.

A lot of times people would just come up to him and ask for his advice on matters, almost like a therapist of sorts. For example, a couple of days ago Felix had found himself giving a counseling session to a fretful Zangief.

"I mean, I know Zangief must crush man's skull like sparrow's egg between thighs!" Zangief had cried, lying on a couch in Felix's apartment. "But, sometimes, I just get tired! Zangief wants a vacation! And then I think, but if Zangief doesn't do it, no one will! And it is just so frustrating!"

"Wow." Felix said, sitting on the chair across from him. "I'm sorry Zangief, but you know...Litwak's is closed on Sundays...so it's like you get a break then..."

Then, Zangief had sat up, looking like he had just gone through a great revelation. "You man of little stature speaks great truth! Zangief will just treat Sunday like vacation time-and Zangief will be good guy!" Then he'd grabbed a very wary looking Felix and kissed the top of his head.

Then there were the people who always wanted him to fix their things, one of the more frequent ones being Ralph. When your superpower was wrecking things, well, you wrecked things. A lot. So Ralph would always come to him asking for his help on repairing the chair he'd broken, or something else to that extent.

The news of Felix's fixing ability had also quickly spread through _Sugar Rush. _So now he would have 15 kids finding him at multiple hours of the day to ask him to come and fix the karts they'd crashed this morning. He would always say yes, of course. But he did have to admit, it was rather annoying when Vanellope had woken him up in the middle of the night once so he could help her fix her kart's horn, something she insisted she couldn't race without.

So Felix was pretty much busy all the time. Not to mention that now he had another person to please: his girlfriend. Much to the public disbelief, up until now Felix had never dated anyone. He had always viewed the female Nicelanders as friends or sisters, and most of the other women in the arcade were either taken, or just not his type. Not that he really had one (a type). If you had asked him what his dream woman was a couple months ago, it would not have been a tall, bitter, sarcastic, army sergeant.

Not even in the slightest.

But from that moment when they'd first met, as he shielded himself away from the barrel of a gun and looked up into the face of an angel, he knew he was in love with Tamora Jean Calhoun. And ever since then, that feeling had never faded. And so Felix, being the happy-go-lucky people pleaser that he was, never stopped making sure that his dynamite gal was 100% happy. He was willing to do anything and everything for her, no matter how absurd or extravagant it was. Vanellope had said he was "whipped," something she'd picked up from hanging around with the 3 guys in her game.

A lot of the other women in the arcade were jealous, Felix was one of the resident "dreamboats," many of them had had some sort of crush on him at one point, even if it was just a small one. And knowing now that he'd finally found his other half, who happened to not be them, was very upsetting. But everyone had to admit they made a strange, but cute couple. The guys who had known Felix for years had teased him by asking how he managed to score with a woman as perfect as her.

So, all in all, Felix was popular.

That's why when one morning when Felix Fix-It woke up, he was worried.

He was alone, as in,nobody was talking to him. At first, he thought it was just a slow day. After all, people had other things to be doing. It was Sunday, and as it was everyone's day off, it would be natural for the other characters to not spend it with him.

But something seemed off.

It started when he'd gone to wish Deanna a 'good morning', but instead of smiling back like she always did, she ran off, acting like she hadn't heard him, even though he'd only stood less than a foot away from her. The same thing happened again and again with all the Nicelanders. Don, Mary, Gene...they'd all ran away like frightened deer.

Things got weirder when Felix went to visit Ralph at his new apartment in East Niceland. He'd came upon Ralph sneaking around outside his own apartment, looking as if he didn't want to be caught.

"Hey, brother!" Felix had called, waving and running up to him.

"Felix!" Ralph exclaimed, straightening up and turning red. "Hey...you!"

"So, got any plans today?" Felix asked, rocking on the heels of his feet.

"No, not really...nothing important anyways." Ralph had stammered, looking fishy. His hands were clasped behind his back and his eyebrows were curved upwards in an unnatural sort of way.

"Okay." Felix said slowly, raising an eyebrow at his awkwardness. "Well, do you want to visit Sugar Rushtoday? Vanellope would probably want us to watch her race again. You know how much she loves it when we all come to cheer her on!"

Ralph looked anxiously towards the trolley that took people in and out of _Fix-It Felix Jr_. "I dunno...I don't think Vanellope wants to race today."

"Vanellope doesn't want to race?" Felix had exclaimed incredulously. "Ralph, are you sure you're talking about _our _Vanellope? Her not wanting to race is like chicken hawk not wanting to chase a rooster." Felix frowned. Tamora was starting to rub off on him more and more. It was the same both ways, though. Kohut had confided in him one night at Tapper's that Calhoun had started muttering, "Jiminy Jaminy," under her breath when she was frustrated.

"Yep, I'm pretty sure!" Ralph said, smiling warily at him. "Well, I can't talk right now Felix, I'm...ah...busy. Talk to you later!"

Then, without even waiting for Felix to reply, Ralph had taken off, heading out towards Game Central, practically leaving a cloud of dust behind.

"I guess he was in a hurry." Felix sighed, not knowing what else to think. He looked around Niceland for somebody, _anybody, _to talk to, but everyone seemed to be gone. Felix furrowed his brow. There wasn't some big event he had, missed, was there? Ralph's birthday was in the fall, and Vanellope's and Tamora's had already passed...the 4th of July wasn't until a few more days...Gene had already thrown his mid-month party...there was nothing!

Felix scratched his head. Well, people could be busy, right? He shouldn't be so...so...shallow! There were plenty of other things people could be doing with their day off than spending it with him. Maybe there was another basketball game going on over at Hoop Jamz, or the Zombies were having another fight-to-the-regeneration at the Mall of the Undead (definitely one of the most entertaining things to witness, as morbid as it was). Who knew? Litwak's was full of so many things to do, so many games to visit-the possibilities were endless.

But even as he repeated this over and over again in his head, he couldn't shake that uneasy feeling that something was up.

Felix needed some cheering up. And he knew just who to visit.

Hero's Duty wasn't exactly a hot spot for game jumping aspirants. After all, it was one of, if not _the _most, dangerous games in the arcade. With all the Cy-Bugs, flying debris, and angry sergeants (cough, cough), it wasn't very...appealing. Not to mention its dark atmosphere that screamed hostility and sharp edges, the ominous dark clouds that hung overhead, and the fact that it had the constant smell of ashes mixed throughout the air. These theories had been evident when Felix and Ralph had first introduced Tamora to the Nicelanders, as they'd been very apprehensive to the whole situation.

"She's from _Hero's Duty?" _Nel had whispered to Felix, sounding shocked.

"I heard that game is full of horrible, awful, creatures!" Lucy had added, looking just as worried. "That they're downright murderous! What if they follow her _here?" _

"Oh, don't worry about that." Felix had said, smiling at Tamora as she shook hands with Roy across the room. "She's great, she really is, and trust me, she's got those 'creatures' handled just fine."

At first, it had taken the Nicelanders a while to warm up to Tamora's sarcastic and forthright way of being (She was just so _different _from them_-_if you really thought about it, she and Felix had more differences than things in common), but soon she had become a part of the family. They still refused to step foot or hair into Hero's Duty however, but that was understandable.

All this being so, it was pretty quiet when Felix got to Hero's Duty, well, as "quiet" as it could be. There were always the menacing booms and echos resounding off in the distance (the source unknown even to the residents of the game), and the soft buzzing that called out to you from all corners lingered, making you constantly on guard for stray Cy-Bugs. Felix had no idea how Tamora could handle this environment, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. While she admittedly did leave her game to visit Felix, Ralph, or Vanellope, or out to go do stuff with her men, this was where, like all characters and their consoles, she spent most of her time. But Tamora had confided in him that Hero's Duty never really felt like her home, no matter how much time she spent in it. She was in her element there, yes, but she never got that comforting, peaceful feeling that one likes to sit down and soak in.

Felix navigated his way through the game, clutching his hammer nervously. He was used to Hero's Duty more than your average character, but he still couldn't help the jitters he got walking through it unaccompanied. Finally, he made it to Tamora's quarters. Just as he was about to knock on the door, however, it swung open, revealing a very distracted-looking Tamora Jean. "Felix!" She exclaimed, jumping a mile. "Wh-what are you doing here?" She tried to smile at him, but failed miserably and wound up grimacing instead.

"I just wanted to visit you." Felix said, smiling up at her brightly. "Everyone seems to be busy today, and I thought we could go grab a milkshake together, or something. There's this new ice cream parlor that opened up in Sugar Rush, Vanellope said it's really interesting, and that they have root beer floats as big as her! Can you believe it?"

"Wow." Tamora said, shifting her weight awkwardly. "That sounds great, but...I kind of have plans already."

Felix's face fell. "Really? Doing what?"

She shrugged. "Just stuff. Kohut wanted me to teach him some new tactics, and Markowski needs to be whipped into shape, he's been lagging lately...so I won't really have time to do anything else today." She seemed to look at everything but him as her eyes shifted around uncomfortably. Her fingers twisted together, in and out, and a faint blush was in her cheeks.

Felix let out sigh. Why was it that everyone was doing stuff without him today? He hated feeling left out. Felix felt a sudden surge of guilt as he realized that this is what Ralph must have gone through, all those 30 years before they'd become friends. He had no idea how Ralph could have managed being on his own for so long. Felix was barely lasting an hour! "Well...okay, then. If you're really that busy..." He mumbled.

"Yup." Tamora said, turning him around. "Busy, busy, busy. So you should just go home now. Read a book or something." With a light push, she sent him off, slamming her door shut behind him.

Felix's heart sank. Tamora always seemed so happy to see him, but now...it felt like she was avoiding him-on purpose. He kicked a small shard of something (Was it glass? He honestly wouldn't have been surprised, even if it was part of a desecrated Cy-Bug shell) aside in frustration. Felix usually wasn't a cross person, but now...he was just so...so...disappointed! Yes, he understood that people had other things to do with their time, but everyone, all at once? The odds of it were cruelly uncanny.

Despondently, he trudged back to Game Central Station. Maybe there was something wrong with _him_, he thought as he got off the fancy bullet train that shipped characters in and out of Hero's Duty. Maybe he was just annoying everyone, and it would be best if he left his friends alone.

Suddenly, a beam of hope flashed in front of him. His heart lightened as he saw a tiny blue hooded figure sneaking across Game Central, clutching some packages. He recognized her immediately by her ruffled brown skirt and striped tights. "Vanellope!" He called, waving over to her.

Vanellope froze, looking like a kid who'd been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, something that had probably happened to Vanellope before, on multiple occasions.

"May I speak to you for a moment?" Felix said, walking over to her. "I was wondering if-"

"Sorrycan'ttalkFelixBusyIgotalotofstufftodoTalktoy oulaterbye!" Vanellope exclaimed, running off. Unfortunately for her, in her haste she tripped, sending her packages, as well as herself, to the floor.

"Vanellope!" Felix cried, running over to her at once. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Vanellope said, brushing herself off quickly before scrambling around to pick up all the boxes and bags she'd dropped. "Really!" Her voice was panicky, and her hazel eyes were wide with guilt.

"But could I just-"

"Sorry, my schedule's as stuffed as a gummy bear in a taffy swamp!" Vanellope smiled, nodding to him before she ran off again. "See you around!" Within a blink, she had glitched away, disappearing into the throng of characters that strolled through the hub.

Felix's shoulders sagged. Now even Vanellope didn't want to be around him. What was going on? He suddenly found himself tired, and sat down on a bench near the entrance of his game. Down-cast, he rested his face in his hands. Who knows how long he sat there, trying to make sense of the confusion he found himself in, just letting time pass by. If only these feelings he had could go along with it. Loneliness had to be one of the worst feelings in the world, he decided. Nothing could be worse than knowing there was no one you could talk to, or even just be with. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if this was something he was used to, but he wasn't. He wasn't used to this feeling of being ignored and rejected-it wasn't in his programming!

Felix probably would have stayed there for the rest of the day, wallowing in his depressed reverie, if a certain small someone hadn't interrupted him.

"%!&?₤?"

Felix looked up to see a concerned Q*Bert standing in front of him. "Oh, it's nothing, Q*Bert," He sighed. "I'm just feeling a little blue, that's all."

"Ҩ;&! #?" Q*Bert asked.

"Well..." Felix said slowly. "I don't want to complain or be a bother, but lately I've been feeling like everyone's avoiding me. Ralph, Vanellope, even Tamora! And I don't know what's going on! I mean, I know that people don't have to spend every second with me, or anything, but they've all been acting so strange...and it just doesn't feel right."

Q*Bert looked down, deep in thought. "#? Ҩ=&!" He offered.

"I did!" Felix protested. "But every time I tried to talk to them, they ran away from me! It doesn't make any sense! I don't remember ever doing something to _offend _anyone! Do you think they're all mad at me?"

Q*Bert shook his head "no." Well, body, technically speaking.

Felix sighed and leaned back. "I just don't know what to do."

Q*Bert was silent for a moment, a look of pity across his face. "₤!#;?" He finally said, nudging Felix gently with his nose (or was it his mouth?).

"I guess I will." Felix agreed, standing up. "Maybe a little nap or two will clear my head."

Q*Bert nodded ecstatically, pushing him along.

Felix chuckled, patting Q*Bert on the head softly. With a wave, he headed back to his apartment. The Niceland apartment building was quiet, probably empty, but Felix tried to ignore this as he took the elevator to his floor. The old elevator rattled and shook as it ascended to the top, reminding Felix that he had to fix that sooner or later. He just wanted to rest for a little while, then he could get back to fixing things. He was so drained, the minute he entered his room, he went over to his bed and fell right asleep.

* * *

"Feeeeelix?" Someone called.

Felix moaned quietly in his sleep. He was having a lovely dream in which he, Ralph, Vanellope, and Tamora were having a nice little picnic in a valley, and the sun was shining, and there was lots and lots of pie, and no ducks (something Felix had a phobia of-but that was another story) and it was very, very peaceful and-

"Felix! Wake up, ya big lump!"

Felix peeked one eye open. Through his sleepy daze, he managed to make out Vanellope and Ralph leaning over him, poking and shaking him. Vanellope was wearing one her candy-dresses, this one made of what seemed to be tiered peanut butter cup wrappers, except they were blue. Ralph had abandoned his tattered overalls for a nice shirt and slacks, but the pair both wore an identical smile, full of teasing and excitement.

"What's the big occasion?" Felix asked, sitting up and sleepily rubbing his eyes. "How long was I asleep? It's not July 4th already, is it? Because I was supposed to get those fireworks, and if Gene doesn't have them he's going to be cross with all of us."

"No, no, no-you weren't asleep _that _long." Ralph smiled, pulling him up and out of bed.

"Yeah, you're not like _some _people." Vanellope grinned, rolling her eyes towards Ralph.

"Then what's going on?" Felix questioned, more confused than ever.

"We...ah...have something to show you!" Ralph smiled, throwing Vanellope a look.

"Yeah!" Vanellope agreed, bobbing her head up and down. "And it's really cool! Like, the best thing ever!"

"Alright." Felix sighed, getting up.

"But you have to get dressed nicer first!" Vanellope insisted, standing in front of the door.

Felix looked down at his clothes. He was wearing what he did almost every day, his blue button-down shirt and gently worn jeans-what was wrong with that? "Why?" He asked, starting to feel suspicious.

"Can you just do it?" Vanellope said, cocking her head to the side in annoyance.

"Fine." Felix said, walking over to his closet. "I don't see what the fuss is about."

Ralph and Vanellope smiled and went outside to wait for him.

Felix changed into his "party" clothes (white gloves, belt, and a blue vest, shirt, and pants) and met the pair outside, where they were fully immersed in a thumb-war.  
"It's not fair!" Vanellope was complaining. "Your thumb is way bigger than mine!"

"Isn't that the point?" Ralph chuckled triumphantly.

"I'm ready!" Felix announced. "Now, what's this 'cool' thing y'all wanted to show me?"

"Oh right!" Vanellope said, jumping up at once. "You just have to wear this too." She reached over and blindfolded him with a long piece of taffy.  
"What?" Felix exclaimed, reaching up to touch the blindfold. "But why-"

"Just c'mon already!" Vanellope protested, tugging at his hand. "Time's a'wastin'! No time like the present!"

Ralph and Vanellope led him out of the apartment and out of Niceland all together. "Where are we going?" He asked, but all Ralph answered was, "You'll see."

He couldn't see a single thing, which was very distressing. He sincerely hoped this wasn't Ralph and Vanellope's idea of a good prank, because the giggly chatter that was being exchanged between them was starting to make him nervous.  
Soon, the smell of sugar filled his nose, and he knew he had to be in Sugar Rush. But where were they going to go? They walked and walked, up and down, left and right, until he finally heard a loud door opening and then closing behind them-so they had to be inside. There was more walking, and then...

Nothing.

"Ralph? Vanellope?" Felix called out, waving his hands around blindly. "Where are we? This better not be some kind of joke, because I will not be amused! You guys?"

Silence.

Finally, he had had enough. "Okay, will some one tell me what's going on?" He demanded, pulling the blindfold off. He was standing in a dark room, when all of the sudden...

"Surprise!"

Lights flicked on and confetti flew everywhere. Felix blinked. He couldn't believe his eyes! They were in Vanellope's throne room, and everyone-they were all here! From Norwood to Pac-Man to Sonic to the Sugar Rush kids-all there! Balloons and streamers hung everywhere, and they all wore silly party hats. There was a table full of fine-looking sweets and treats, including a luscious-looking cake. A banner hung on the wall reading: _Happy Birthday Felix! _

Felix was shocked. His birthday? How could he have forgotten? He mouth hung open in astonishment and his eyes were wide. So _this _explained why everyone had been acting so weird around him all day-they'd all been planning this! "Is this...all for me?" He managed to choke out.

"You're always so willing to help all of us out." Ralph explained, tossing a grin to Vanellope, who sat on his shoulder. "Some of us more than others, but still. No matter what, you've always got our backs."

"In fact, you're so busy caring about everyone else you forgot it was your own birthday!" Roy said, chuckling along with everyone around him.

Felix smiled widely at them all. He was at a loss for words. "Thank you all! This is so nice of you!" He finally beamed.

Everyone clapped, cheering for their favorite handyman.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Vanellope said, once the clapping had died down. "This is nice and all, but can we just get to the cake-eating part of this evening already?"

Everyone laughed. Someone turned up some music, and the party was officially started. People broke off into groups to dance, chat, or (much like Vanellope) raid the snack table.

Tamora walked over to Felix, pulling his hat down over his eyes. "Sorry about blowing off our date." She said, blushing sheepishly as she kneeled down beside him. "But pint-sized and King Kong over there were all set on us all working together, and all that."

"It's fine!" Felix said, smiling up at her. "Don't worry about it! I mean, this...this is incredible! I can't believe you all did this, for me!"

"You deserve it." She shrugged, smiling. "You work your little 8-bit butt off making sure everyone's happy all the time. It's only fair we give something back."

Felix flushed modestly. "Thank you." He said, kissing her on the cheek.

Tamora smiled at him and kissed him back, leaving him riddled with honeyglows.

"Hey Felix!" Ralph called. "You're needed on the dance floor!"

"Get you tush over here!" Vanellope added, finishing off a cookie.

Felix looked a Tamora. "Well?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "It's your birthday fix-it!"

"I meant," Felix said, rolling his eyes playfully at her. "Will you come dance with me? I've had enough of not seeing you today."

She smiled. "Me too." She said, taking his hand in hers.

And so they all danced the night away, and Felix knew that he would never have to feel alone ever again, not when he had the greatest people in the world right standing there beside him.


End file.
